Help with decision for engineering curriculum

[Bassbomb91]

Hello all,

I have been reading these forums for a while and I must say that they are an excellent resource for anyone who has decided to pursue a life of physics, mathematics or engineering.

That being said, I have decided to turn to the forums for help. Here is the story, I have always loved science since I was a kid. Instead of a ball in my hand, or watching cartoon tv shows, I would be reading a technology article or watching a show about technology or science. As a grew older and began taking intermediate level math courses such as algebra and trig, I began to appreciate the beauty of mathematics in solving problems. When I took an AP calculus course in high school, I fell completley in love with mathematics as a tool used hand in hand with physics to solve problems.

Now for the engineering part, aside from loving math and physics, I also regularly disassemble mechanical clocks I find to study their escapement and I am fascinated by how the energy of a pendulum combined with a cleverly designed mechanical escapement and gear system, allows us to track the hours of the day. I have also took apart other old appliances and spent some time fixing washing machines finding their mechanical systems fascinating. I love vehicles, especially trucks, heavy construction machinary and buses and learning how they work. I believe this would all qualify under the mechanical engineering discipline. I have also taken an introductory thermo class (no hardcore calc or diffy q) at my university and LOVED every minute of it just as much as I loved the simple heat transfer calculations in my chemistry classes. I guess that means I can do very well in a mechanical engineering curriculum. It would be all fine and dandy if this was it but it's not...

There is another side to this story. I also have a knack for electronics. I have built my own simple radio before and really liked the idea of how all of the pieces fit together and worked together to accomplish a single goal. I also like electronic circuits and electromagnetism, part of the physics class I took in high school. I am fascinated how microprocessors and electrical signals can be used to accomplish tasks up to level a computer can accomplish. It is amazing that this is all done simply by logic and switches turning on and off. I really like automation and control, and would really like to learn how toi make things do what I want them to do using electricity. I like programming and can code in C++ and know a little java from a class that I took. In a nutshell I love electronic circuits and logic, and how electricity can be used to control things.

As you can see, I am torn between ME and EE. I am so stressed out it's putting me into a deppresion to where I can't sleep and feel upset all of the time because I can't decide which career I would want. I love them both and want to learn about them both, but I know I can't because double majoring is not a good idea for enegineering for multiple reasons. I do not want to ruin a career or make a mistake of majoring for something at my university only to waste time and money and have to redo and or take more classes. Right now I am signed up for EE but am only going into sophomore year, so I haven't taken any serious engineering classes yet.

I feel so lost. My cousin and my gfs dad are engineers, EE and ME respectivley. My cousin says mechanical engineers are basically mechanics that have been taught a little bit of math. My gf's dad says that if I took mechanical he would show me "really cool stuff" and that EE is very "different". He told me I would most definatley be bored with EE. I know that these are biased opinions and these comments are probably most untrue especially the one towards mechanical engineering, but they still play on my mind and confuse me.

One last thing. I DO NOT care about salary. I am in this for the passion of engineering. That will not matter at all when I make the choice.

I really need help. This is corrupting my life. I hate not being decided about what I am going to do. I wish I could do bothm, or find one that I enjoy more, but I can't just drop all of my passions.

Sorry for the long post but if anyone (engineers, advisors) have any input on my situation, it will be highly appreciated.

Thank you,
Jim

 

[Angry Citizen]

Your cousin is wrong. Mechanical engineers design the things that mechanics fiddle with. You can design every single piece of equipment in an automobile, with the exception of the wiring (although I suppose it's very possible to do so regardless). Engineers are designers, optimizers, and such -- they're not 'mechanics'.

Oh, and guess what else you can do with a mechanical engineering degree? Mechatronics! AKA the design and optimization of robots and other devices which are a hybrid of the mechanical and the electronic (hence its name). This would very easily satisfy your urge for electrical and mechanical engineering, in my opinion. Look into it!

 

[Bassbomb91]

Thank you! I knew he was wrong it seemed like an ignorant and biased opinion. Does the mechatronics involve control programming and logic as well as mechanical design? That sounds like it would be interesting and I believe my University offers it.

 

[Angry Citizen]

I'm not sure, but I imagine it could if you wanted to. I don't take my mechatronics class till senior year, so it may be a little while till I can tell you for sure.

 

[Bassbomb91]

Thanks, I have one more question. I like calc based physics as well as all of the calculus based classes I have taken so far. I have looked at a Diffy Q book and it seems interesting, I heard it really helps to understand physics and tie loose ends together. Now Linear Algebra, eh I took a linear algebra class that was proof based and not engineering oriented and HATED almost every minute of it. The only parts I liked were solving linear systems using matrices and eigenvectors. Everything else was about vector spaces and all of these other concepts which I understood, but were so damn hard to prove. I guess I am not a fan of abstract concepts such as vector spaces and subspaces, but I like other abstract concepts like complex numbers. I HATED proving the concepts. It was ridiculous that they couldn't give us an engineering oriented linear algebra course, with application in mind (BTW, the professor skipped all of the application sections). I guess based on this information, can you make a conclusion as to which side I would lean towards. I heard EE has more proof based and abstract math than ME.

My Uni does not offer Mechatronics.

Thanks

 

[Bassbomb91]

Would a major in electrical and minor in mechanical do any good?